The Goldfinch and the Gilded Cage

 The Goldfinch and the Gilded Cage

The sweet song of the beautiful Goldfinch pleases us when we hear it, but at the same time seeing these birds trapped in a cage concerns us, because we know the essential nature of these creatures is to fly freely in the air, not be trapped in a cage, even if that cage was made of gold, it has no other function but to trap the beautiful Goldfinch from spreading it's wings.

 Westminster: The Houses of Parliament

The imagery and allegory may be tendentious, but we come back to the "qualitative inferences" made so far and summarized You know, we're just not reaching that guy. From the idea of the Russian Doll concept as expressed by the Pigs in Animal Farm of the politicians less and less representing the arguments of the people and more and more representing the "political arithmetic" of power itself. And given this week-end it is the Tory Conference, no more explicit an example could be provided to demonstrate this:-

First of all Michael Heseltine writes the cautious "Party Loyalty" angle and covers that base, that without "David Cameron" the Tories "eurosceptics" would not be in power. For him the "political arithmetic" justifies the ends. Frazer Nelson writes that George Osbourne was going to campaign after a successful renegotiation to stay in a reformed EU but that is "on the line" and he could easily "vote the other way" if he is to be "the man who would be king." Again the political arithmetic is what dictates Osborne's actions, it is the rational "thing to do". Philip Hammond argues the state of the (1) renegotiations that (2) could trigger Osborne that (3) could trigger the eurosceptics that (4) Heseltine is gravely cautioning against. Unfortunately Mr. Brexit (see blogroll) uncovers the deception and sleight of hand in Hammond's role in this theatre: Philip Hammond's slippery little con trick . Finally balancing the equation, on the opposite side of the "=" sign is (5) Ian Duncan-Smith who argues from a "realistic" perspective of the "calamitous" events in Europe which must change the EU and other European leaders minds to sit down and reform the EU as per Mr. Cameron's wise council.

And a (1) and a (2) and a (3) and a (4)... And a (5) and a (1)...

Ian Duncan-Smith's piece is the most revealing: EU has been hit by 'out of control bulldozer', says Iain Duncan Smith:-

Conventional Wisdom = Duncan Smith, a member of the EU negotiations cabinet committee, claimed the Germans were “petrified” of a British exit, adding that Cameron was receiving a warm welcome for his proposals behind closed doors.

Covering All Arithmetic Bases = While some Eurosceptics, such as Nigel Lawson, claim Cameron will win no significant concessions, Duncan Smith said the UK would not be tabling its specific demands until closer to the EU council meeting in December. (polar opposite to Heseltine and divided/extreme eurosceptic base)

Amendments Sweeteners on Immigration IS Reform Fudge = Britain has abandoned demands to block free movement within the EU and instead wants a right to withhold in-work benefits for EU citizens for at least four years.

The EU Associate Membership cat is well out of the bag = “It is becoming clear and obvious that this cannot sustain itself any longer between what the ins [euro users] want and the outs want and, all of a sudden, we are in the middle of a very serious debate about how you run a system when we do not need to be involved in half the things they do and want. They want deeper and closer. We don’t over here.”

If we cast the net further afield from the Politicians across the News-Media:-

Google shows the multiplication of the above "matrix". Dr. RAE North finds a quintessential example of the "flourishing of ignorance" perpetuated by the recursive nature democratic argument narrowed and narrowed and narrowed in the halls of power... and hence inevitably the deterioration towards low quality arguments of our "so-called democracy" being sung so sweetly only from Westminster to the people: EU Referendum: flawed understanding

Described as a member of Business for Britain, one of Matthew Elliott's business ventures, this woman would have it that the EU was turning out to be a "flawed concept" because it had monetary union without fiscal or political union.

Seemingly a small detail, the EU cannot be regarded as a flawed concept for this reason. The very essence of the single currency was to launch an incomplete construct in the knowledge that the stresses would create political pressures which would drive further integration.

This is the mechanism of engrenage, at the core of the so-called Monnet Method, relying on the doctrine of the beneficial crisis. It is not, as they say, a bug, but a feature. The European Union was designed to act in this way.

Here is the perfect vehicle (and the most refined summation from Dr. North) for amplification of the EU Reform deal by the seemingly "business-headed, rational-thinking, economically-orientated "no political horses in this race, guv!": Business For Britain, of who's links to the Tories has been elaborated in great and extensive detail via The Boiling Frog (see blogroll): Business For Elliott's Friends.

Interestingly and completely independently (unlike some outfits) Lost Leonardo (see blogroll) blogs on the subject of A Two-Track Debate :-

The public and the politicians both agree that Britain needs a new relationship with the EU. The question that needs to be answered in the referendum is ‘What form should that new relationship take?’ Should we choose to “remain” in the EU, accepting that Britain should play a subordinate role within the supranational (“above the nation”) EU institutions, or should we choose to “leave” leave the EU, embracing this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to correct an historic mistake and recast our relationship with the EU as one that is based on independent self-government and intergovernmental co-operation?
Until the legacy media turns its attention to serious matters, I see no reason involve them in our debate.

 There really is a 2-Track debate. As before, You know, we're just not reaching that guy. The Politicians and Media are entertaining one argument. And the assertion is that because Democracy, like a beautiful Goldfinch is trapped in a gilded cage, we the people hear it's sweet song and are satisfied with this. But atst if we look as well as listen, we can't help but notice that something is very very wrong with where the Goldfinch is kept. It's nature is to be able to spread it's wings and fly freely. What draws us to Westminster, and what draws the media is the "sweet song", but the politicians "own" our Goldfinch and in order to do that they must trap it. from George Orwell or F.A. Hayek we see that once this process starts then like the "Russian Dolls" or the "Mirrors within Mirrors" the effect this has on the quality of our arguments and hence our communication as a democracy is warped.

As we progress further along The Road To The European Union we may well do well to think about a simple question: As per Lost Leonardo's 2-Tracks above, it does not matter how fast we think we are going or where we say we want to go: If we're actually travelling on the wrong tracks as laid out by the politicians and amplified by the News-Media. When we don't know the way, we must rely on the quality of their arguments; not ours. We must rely on about 300 Conservative Politicians (Pigs) compared to 30 million people (The rest of the animals). Is this democracy?